Extensively revised and updated in the wake of the Arab uprisings, the changes that they fostered, and the fault lines that they exposed, the fourth edition of The Modern Middle East: A History explores how the forces associated with global modernity have shaped the social, economic, cultural, and political life in the region over the course of the past 500 years.

Vignettes and Maps ; Acknowldegments ; A Note on Transliteration ; New to This Edition ; Introduction ; Part I: THE ADVENT OF THE MODERN AGE ; Chapter 1. From Late Antiquity to the Dawn of a New Age ; Chapter 2. Gunpowder Empires ; Chapter 3. The Middle East and the Modern World System ; Chapter 4. War, Diplomacy, and the New Global Balance of Power ; Documents ; Evliya Chelebi: Seyahataname (1) ; Evliya Chelebi: Seyahataname (2) ; Draft Treaty of Amity and Commerce between the Ottoman Empire and France, February 1535 ; The Travels of Sir John Chardin into Persia and the East-Indies (1) ; The Travels of Sir John Chardin into Persia and the East-Indies (2) ; Suggested Readings ; Part II: THE QUESTION OF MODERNITY ; Chapter 5. Defensive Developmentalism ; Chapter 6. Imperialism ; Chapter 7. Wasif Jawhariyyeh and the Great Nineteenth-Century Transformation ; Photo Essay: The Great Nineteenth-Century Transformation and its Aftermath ; Chapter 8. The Life of the Mind ; Chapter 9. Secularism and Modernity ; Chapter 10. Constitutionalism ; Documents ; Commercial Convention (Balta Liman): Britain and the Ottoman Empire ; The Hatt-i Sharif of Gulhane ; The Islahat Fermani ; The d'Arcy Oil Concession ; Algeria: The Poetry of Loss ; Huda Shaarawi: A New Mentor and Her Salon for Women ; Rifaca Rafic al-Tahtawi: The Extraction of Gold or an Overview of Paris ; Muhammad cAbduh: The Theology of Unity ; Namik Kemal: Extract from the Journal Hurriyet ; The Supplementary Fundamental Law of 7 October 1907 ; Suggested Readings ; Part III: WAR I AND THE MIDDLE EAST STATE SYSTEM ; Chapter 11. State-Building by Decree ; Chapter 12. State-Building by Revolution and Conquest ; Chapter 13. The Invention and Spread of Nationalisms ; Chapter 14. The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict ; Documents ; An Arab Soldier in the Ottoman Army ; Resolution of the Syrian General Congress at Damascus, 2 July 1919 ; Theodor Herzl: A Solution of the Jewish Question ; The Balfour Declaration, 2 November 1917 ; Mahmud Darwish: Eleven Planets in the Last Andalusian Sky ; Suggested Readings ; Part IV: THE CONTEMPORARY ERA ; Chapter 15. The Autocratic State ; Chapter 16. Oil ; Chapter 17. The United States and the Middle East ; Chapter 18. Rebellion ; Chapter 19. The Arab Uprisings ; Conclusion The End of an Era? ; Documents ; Speech Delivered by President Gamal cAbd al-Nasser at Port-Said on the Occasion of Victory Day on 23 December 1961 ; Zakaria Tamer: Tigers on the Tenth Day ; Ali Sharicati: The Philosophy of History: The Story of Cain and Abel ; Ayatollah Khomeini: Islamic Government ; Sayyid Qutb: Milestones ; "Statement of the April 6 Movement Regarding the Demands of the Youth and the Refusal to Negotiate with any Side" ; Yassir al-Manawahly, "The International Monetary Fund" ; Suggested Readings ; Timeline ; Biographical Sketches ; Glossary ; Credits ; Index

This is without question the best survey of modern Middle Eastern history currently available in English. It is comprehensive, lucid, nuanced and up-to-date, but it is also a good read-very well-written and entirely accessible to students and general readers alike. I recommend it without hesitation to anyone who wants to acquire a solid understanding of the history of this region from the late Ottoman period onward, and it's a must-read for people who really want to make sense of what is going on in this region today. * Zachary Lockman, New York University *Gelvin's book is among the very best overviews of the modern Middle East. Its great virtue is that he lets readers in on the really exciting thing about this history * the debate over what has driven the region's dramatic developments. He is also attentive to the history of social classes *The Modern Middle East is by far the best textbook for introductory and survey courses. In a humorous and conversational style, it offers a substantial analytical and interpretive framework, not just a litany of dry facts that most students will likely forget after their exams. The book accomplishes two objectives at once: it teaches students how to think about history and it introduces them to many of the key issues of the modern Middle East. * Joel Beinin, Stanford University *